Our today’s guest is Point of View / TGT GTX 560 2048MB Beast graphics card. As the name clearly states, this graphics card has double the reference amount of memory whereas the moniker Beast says that the card is overclocked. In fact, the GPU runs at 920MHz (reference clock is 810MHz) while the memory is at 1056MHz (reference clock is 1002MHz). Naturally, higher clocks mean higher pricing but we’ll see whether this card can justify its price.

Nvidia expanded its performance segment offer with the launch of Geforce GTX 560 graphics card in May. The GTX 560, together with GTX 560 Ti, was classified as so called “gamers’ sweet spot” graphics, meaning that gamers on tighter budgets should find them very attractive. The optimum gaming resolution is 1680x1050, although 1920x1080 is possible as well depending on the game itself. Of course, factory overclocked GTX 560 2048MB Beast cards should score better at 1920x1080 than their reference counterparts.

GTX 560 prices haven’t changed much since the launch, so the GTX 560 still costs €150. The GTX 560 Ti’s price fluctuated somewhat more and it now stands at €190.

The GTX 560 2048MB Beast will set you back more than €200, which is definitely a turn off for many. However, the card does boast double the memory and higher clocks, although we would have liked to see a quieter cooler as well.

Point of View / TGT GTX 560 2048MB Beast comes in PoV’s recognizable packaging and TGT emblem. Beside the graphics card, the box holds the driver CD and a short user manual. The graphics card has three different video outs so there are not additional adapters/dongles in the box.

GTX 560 2048MB Beast’s full name is TGT-560-A1-2-BST. The company used a black PCB and black dual slot cooling, which isn’t very different from the reference design. The cooler is efficient and the card will have no problems with overheating.

As you can see from the picture, the card has three video connectors. Beside the dual-link DVI and VGA outs, there’s also a standard HDMI one (mini HDMI is a common feature on GTX 560 cards with two DVI connectors).

A metal rail spans the entire length of the card and while it helps with heat dissipation, it also makes the card taller.

The Geforce GTX 560 has a single SLI connector, which means that you can daisy chain two GTX 560 cards for some nice SLI performance boost.

The GTX 560 2GB Beast is powered via two 6-pin connectors.

Although the power connectors are at the end of the card, the card itself is quite short and connecting power cables will not be a drag, not even in smaller cases.

The memory is cooled by fan air only, which we realized after we took off the plastic shroud.

The PCB seems very tidy. The memory is on the GPU side of the PCB. We’re talking about GDDR5 memory chips made by Hynix (the model number H5GQ2H24MFR T2C). They are specified to run at 1250MHz (5000 MHz GDDR5 effective).

Our results show that the GTX 560 2GB Beast left the reference GTX 560 in the dust, mostly due to the high overclock. However, we also included Gainward’s reference GTX 560 2GB and it served to show that the card benefits from the extra memory only on rare occasions.

We managed to push the card to 960MHz and play some games for a few hours. The GTX 560 2048MB Beast’s GPU is capable of 1GHz operation as well, but only after increasing voltages and fan speed, in which scenario we didn’t have stable operation in all games. Voltages can be changed using Nvidia’s Inspector tool.

Thermals and Noise

The GTX 560 2048MB Beast uses a dual slot cooler with a central fan. Idle temperatures of 33°C and load temperatures of 85°C mean that the cooler is efficient and will not let the card overheat. However, note that the cooler was loud when the card was under load. While we expect overclocks to add a few dB to noise levels, it’s a pity TGT didn’t opt for a quieter dual fan cooler as some other Nvidia partners have.

Point of View / TGT once again squeezed out the maximum from Nvidia’s chip. The GTX 560 2048MB Beast runs at 920MHz for the GPU (reference clock is 810MHz) and double the memory, which was overclocked to 1056MHz (reference clock is 1002MHz). The factory overclock provided enough juice for comfortable gaming at 1920x1080.

Although the GTX 560 2048MB Beast packs 2048MB of memory, it will not visibly affect the performance in most cases. While enthusiasts may use the increased memory for downsampling, gamers will see performance improvements in only few games.

The card’s dual slot cooler is efficient but unfortunately loud when the GPU is under load. However, the cooling performance is good enough for additional overclocking. In fact, we managed to do some stable gaming with the GPU at 960MHz. As far as overclocking goes, although the card has double the memory of the reference card, it didn’t stop us from overclocking it to 5000MHz (reference clock is 4008MHz effectively).

GTX 560 prices haven’t changed much since the launch, so the GTX 560 still costs €150. The GTX 560 Ti’s price fluctuated somewhat more and it now stands at €190.

The GTX 560 2048MB Beast will set you back more than €200, which is definitely a turn off for many. However, the card does boast double the memory and higher clocks, although we would have liked to see a quieter cooler as well. Truth be told, the card’s speed indeed is indeed very high, which is the epithet we could use for the pricing as well.